The sympathomimetic agent, 6-hydroxydopamine, accelerates cutaneous wound healing

Using pharmacological stimulation of sympathetic terminals, the present study examines the role of sympathetic post-ganglionic neurons in cutaneous wound healing. Effects of local stimulation of sympathetic post-ganglionic neurons with 0.2 mg/kg 6-hydroxydopamine were studied on the healing of full-thickness skin incisions in rats. Epidermal wound healing was measured by a novel non-invasive quantitative method based on the increasing electrical resistance of healing skin. Dermal healing was determined by measuring wound breaking strength using an Instron Universal Testing device. We report a 35% increase in the rate of epidermal wound healing (P < 0.05. n(e) = 21, n(c) = 18) and a 43% increase in dermal strength (P < 0.05, n(e) = 13, n(c) = 10) after 6-hydroxydopamine treatment. Thus, our results show that pharmacological stimulation of sympathetic post-ganglionic neurons markedly accelerates skin wound healing at both the epidermal and dermal levels. This is the first study to show that peripheral nerve stimulation and specifically sympathetic stimulation accelerates cutaneous wound healing. We discuss these results in relation to neurogenic inflammation.